#47 - Musk/trump/Vance

shecky

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Trump, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social.

"I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)," he wrote. "For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health."

Donald Trump Jr. also shared the news on X.

During his presidential campaign, Kennedy developed a national profile for his criticism of the Covid vaccine and childhood immunizations. He has claimed that vaccines are tied to autism, despite evidence conveyed through studies over decades that have disproven such a claim.

The appointment of Kennedy, 70, to lead HHS ends days of speculation about what health role — if any — the former independent presidential candidate-turned-Trump adviser would play in the incoming administration.

Within HHS is a family of health agencies that includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Kennedy has claimed Trump “promised” him “control of the public health agencies."

Apart from the HHS role, Kennedy was said to have been considered for a role in tackling obesity and diabetes in kids — known as “Operation Warp Speed for childhood chronic disease" — and Kennedy himself floated the idea of being a White House "health czar." Those roles wouldn't have given him the authority or influence that heading HHS will offer.

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, is known for his misleading and false claims on vaccines, including repeated assertions that vaccines are linked to autism, even though for decades numerous studies across several countries have debunked the association. He also founded Children’s Health Defense, a leading anti-vaccine group.

Other people said to have been considered for the role were Ben Carson, Trump's former secretary of housing and urban development and a retired neurosurgeon, and former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who once led the state's Department of Health and Hospitals.

If confirmed, Kennedy's role might spell a major shakeup for the federal health agencies, including the FDA, where Kennedy has threatened to eliminate entire departments and fire agency employees who wage "war on public health."

A former acting director of the CDC, Dr. Richard Besser, was stunned at the announcement.

“I’m speechless,” Besser said. "To have someone leading the Department of Health and Human Services who has been one of the biggest purveyors of misinformation about vaccines, one of the biggest purveyors of misinformation about public health in general, would imperil the health of people across the country."

On Thursday, NBC News reported that some FDA staffers were considering a quick exit should Kennedy be selected for a prominent health role.

Kennedy has also suggested that he would ban fluoride in drinking water as well as strip ultra-processed foods from Americans' diets.

In the first administration, Trump tapped former pharmaceutical executive Alex Azar to the top health agency role. Azar replaced the first Trump-appointed health secretary, Tom Price, who resigned over his use of private jets for government business, costing U.S. taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

CNBC reported that shares of vaccine makers fell Thursday on the reports that Kennedy would possibly be heading the top health agency in the U.S.

OnWis97

I assume the RFK appointment was part of the corrupt bargain that he made to join the Dream Team.

This would be the least-surprising appointment and to me a potential silver lining. I wish he was a bit less anti-vax but he has some really good philosophies regarding our poisoned ultra-processed foods and getting pharmaceutical commercials banned.

Gern Blansten

OnWis97 said:

I assume the RFK appointment was part of the corrupt bargain that he made to join the Dream Team.

This would be the least-surprising appointment and to me a potential silver lining. I wish he was a bit less anti-vax but he has some really good philosophies regarding our poisoned ultra-processed foods and getting pharmaceutical commercials banned.

Yeah but he also said that Bill Gates controls us through satellites and 5G

OnWis97

Gern Blansten said:

OnWis97 said:

I assume the RFK appointment was part of the corrupt bargain that he made to join the Dream Team.

This would be the least-surprising appointment and to me a potential silver lining. I wish he was a bit less anti-vax but he has some really good philosophies regarding our poisoned ultra-processed foods and getting pharmaceutical commercials banned.

Yeah but he also said that Bill Gates controls us through satellites and 5G

Oh, while he's smart about some things, he generally nuts. I worry that this could outdo any good he does.

mrussel1

OnWis97 said:

I assume the RFK appointment was part of the corrupt bargain that he made to join the Dream Team.

This would be the least-surprising appointment and to me a potential silver lining. I wish he was a bit less anti-vax but he has some really good philosophies regarding our poisoned ultra-processed foods and getting pharmaceutical commercials banned.

This should be capitalized from now on, just like the Corrupt Bargain of 1824.  

It's a travesty, if he goes after vaccines.  If he pushes on food manufacturers, I can live with that.  

OnWis97

HughFreakingDillon said:

PJ_Soul said:

Has anyone pointed out that the new Department of Government Efficiency, to be headed by Elon Musk, has the acronym of DOGE?? There is no way that is a coincidence.

apparently elon picked those words just because he wanted it to be that specific acronym

A blatant conflict of interest in plain fucking sight.

shecky

OnWis97 said:

I assume the RFK appointment was part of the corrupt bargain that he made to join the Dream Team.

This would be the least-surprising appointment and to me a potential silver lining. I wish he was a bit less anti-vax but he has some really good philosophies regarding our poisoned ultra-processed foods and getting pharmaceutical commercials banned.

Why assume? Trump and RFK Jr. are completely transparent and open about it. 

"Kennedy ran for president in this year's election as an independent before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in the Republican's administration."

"He's going to help make America healthy again," Trump said in his victory speech on Nov. 6. "He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it," he said.

What the hell is corrupt about that? MAHA!

HughFreakingDillon

so the guy who was behind operation warp speed for the covid vaxx is hiring the guy who spread misinformation about that very vaccine for 4 years to head up the federal health agency. only the best people, folks, only the best people. 

over under on how many of his staff get fired in the first 1-2 years like last time. haha

Gern Blansten

HughFreakingDillon said:

so the guy who was behind operation warp speed for the covid vaxx is hiring the guy who spread misinformation about that very vaccine for 4 years to head up the federal health agency. only the best people, folks, only the best people. 

over under on how many of his staff get fired in the first 1-2 years like last time. haha

yeah and trump got booed when he said he got the vaccine...the level of moron just cannot be measured

Spiritual_Chaos

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Philly NJ said:

Matt Gaetz - Attorney General. Very important to rid the DOJ of corruption. Happy days are here again.

Diddnt he sex traffic underage girls

Is there anything about Trump and his ways that you don’t like? Like sex trafficking underage age girls, just as an example. 

Or if everything great by default?

Charges were dropped. He’s still guilty in the court of Democrats tho. 

If you had to bet your life. Would you bet it on him having done what he was accused of or not?

mrussel1

shecky said:

OnWis97 said:

I assume the RFK appointment was part of the corrupt bargain that he made to join the Dream Team.

This would be the least-surprising appointment and to me a potential silver lining. I wish he was a bit less anti-vax but he has some really good philosophies regarding our poisoned ultra-processed foods and getting pharmaceutical commercials banned.

Why assume? Trump and RFK Jr. are completely transparent and open about it. 

"Kennedy ran for president in this year's election as an independent before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in the Republican's administration."

"He's going to help make America healthy again," Trump said in his victory speech on Nov. 6. "He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it," he said.

What the hell is corrupt about that? MAHA!

There's no doubt that corruption by Trump is out in the open. I won't argue with you there.  

The question you seem to be asking, is why is that corrupt.  Certainly in American history, we have considered the trading of votes for cabinet positions as "corrupt".  It literally happened in 1824 when Clay became Sec'y of State.  

teskeinc

Spiritual_Chaos said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Philly NJ said:

Matt Gaetz - Attorney General. Very important to rid the DOJ of corruption. Happy days are here again.

Diddnt he sex traffic underage girls

Is there anything about Trump and his ways that you don’t like? Like sex trafficking underage age girls, just as an example. 

Or if everything great by default?

Charges were dropped. He’s still guilty in the court of Democrats tho. 

If you had to bet your life. Would you bet it on him having done what he was accused of or not?

I’m not defending him, guy is pretty sketchy and I doubt he gets confirmed for AG. Jose was just posting misinformation. DOJ dropped charges. He was under an ethics investigation by the House. Who knows what the report would have said. I imagine it probably wasn’t great for him.

mickeyrat

cornyn on gaetz...

video

https://www.threads.net/@ghostofgtc/post/DCXHbUKJ9Xu?xmt=AQGzMXkpBgSB7CtqizgZ_DHCKxLqou9WZ582uGxMvzVxjQ

mrussel1

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Philly NJ said:

Matt Gaetz - Attorney General. Very important to rid the DOJ of corruption. Happy days are here again.

Diddnt he sex traffic underage girls

Is there anything about Trump and his ways that you don’t like? Like sex trafficking underage age girls, just as an example. 

Or if everything great by default?

Charges were dropped. He’s still guilty in the court of Democrats tho. 

If you had to bet your life. Would you bet it on him having done what he was accused of or not?

I’m not defending him, guy is pretty sketchy and I doubt he gets confirmed for AG. Jose was just posting misinformation. DOJ dropped charges. He was under an ethics investigation by the House. Who knows what the report would have said. I imagine it probably wasn’t great for him.

Ok great, I'm glad you're not defending him.  

What about him makes him qualified to be the top cop, the AG of the country?  Do you think this was Trump exercising good judgment?

Halifax2TheMax

Y’all best be clutching your prayer beads and praying that no national health crisis erupts in the near future. You have heard about the Canadian teen hospitalized with bird flu, right? Good fucking luck.

teskeinc

mrussel1 said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Philly NJ said:

Matt Gaetz - Attorney General. Very important to rid the DOJ of corruption. Happy days are here again.

Diddnt he sex traffic underage girls

Is there anything about Trump and his ways that you don’t like? Like sex trafficking underage age girls, just as an example. 

Or if everything great by default?

Charges were dropped. He’s still guilty in the court of Democrats tho. 

If you had to bet your life. Would you bet it on him having done what he was accused of or not?

I’m not defending him, guy is pretty sketchy and I doubt he gets confirmed for AG. Jose was just posting misinformation. DOJ dropped charges. He was under an ethics investigation by the House. Who knows what the report would have said. I imagine it probably wasn’t great for him.

Ok great, I'm glad you're not defending him.  

What about him makes him qualified to be the top cop, the AG of the country?  Do you think this was Trump exercising good judgment?

Probably not a good pick. But I honestly don’t know enough about him. Looks like Trump is putting people loyal to him and who are major disruptors to the DC norm in these positions. Totally his right based on outcome of election. If they don’t do their job they will get fired, something Biden wouldn’t do.
We saw that last time.

Democrats are going to complain about every nomination, it’s what they do. Trump has a mandate, the people voted for Pres, House and Senate. Majority are upset how the government was run, it’s now changing. Could be better, could be worse. We will soon find out. At least people are willing to try to make things better. Instead of the status quo DC nonsense.

mrussel1

teskeinc said:

mrussel1 said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Philly NJ said:

Matt Gaetz - Attorney General. Very important to rid the DOJ of corruption. Happy days are here again.

Diddnt he sex traffic underage girls

Is there anything about Trump and his ways that you don’t like? Like sex trafficking underage age girls, just as an example. 

Or if everything great by default?

Charges were dropped. He’s still guilty in the court of Democrats tho. 

If you had to bet your life. Would you bet it on him having done what he was accused of or not?

I’m not defending him, guy is pretty sketchy and I doubt he gets confirmed for AG. Jose was just posting misinformation. DOJ dropped charges. He was under an ethics investigation by the House. Who knows what the report would have said. I imagine it probably wasn’t great for him.

Ok great, I'm glad you're not defending him.  

What about him makes him qualified to be the top cop, the AG of the country?  Do you think this was Trump exercising good judgment?

Probably not a good pick. But I honestly don’t know enough about him. Looks like Trump is putting people loyal to him and who are major disruptors to the DC norm in these positions. Totally his right based on outcome of election. If they don’t do their job they will get fired, something Biden wouldn’t do.
We saw that last time.

Democrats are going to complain about every nomination, it’s what they do. Trump has a mandate, the people voted for Pres, House and Senate. Majority are upset how the government was run, it’s now changing. Could be better, could be worse. We will soon find out. At least people are willing to try to make things better. Instead of the status quo DC nonsense.

"Mandates" are how you get crushed in the mid-terms, so we'll see how smart that is.  Democrats may complain, but not me. His Chief of Staff was a good choice, but each subsequent one has become less and less qualified for the positions.  Can he not find someone qualified AND agrees with him?

Gern Blansten

mrussel1 said:

teskeinc said:

mrussel1 said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Philly NJ said:

Matt Gaetz - Attorney General. Very important to rid the DOJ of corruption. Happy days are here again.

Diddnt he sex traffic underage girls

Is there anything about Trump and his ways that you don’t like? Like sex trafficking underage age girls, just as an example. 

Or if everything great by default?

Charges were dropped. He’s still guilty in the court of Democrats tho. 

If you had to bet your life. Would you bet it on him having done what he was accused of or not?

I’m not defending him, guy is pretty sketchy and I doubt he gets confirmed for AG. Jose was just posting misinformation. DOJ dropped charges. He was under an ethics investigation by the House. Who knows what the report would have said. I imagine it probably wasn’t great for him.

Ok great, I'm glad you're not defending him.  

What about him makes him qualified to be the top cop, the AG of the country?  Do you think this was Trump exercising good judgment?

Probably not a good pick. But I honestly don’t know enough about him. Looks like Trump is putting people loyal to him and who are major disruptors to the DC norm in these positions. Totally his right based on outcome of election. If they don’t do their job they will get fired, something Biden wouldn’t do.
We saw that last time.

Democrats are going to complain about every nomination, it’s what they do. Trump has a mandate, the people voted for Pres, House and Senate. Majority are upset how the government was run, it’s now changing. Could be better, could be worse. We will soon find out. At least people are willing to try to make things better. Instead of the status quo DC nonsense.

"Mandates" are how you get crushed in the mid-terms, so we'll see how smart that is.  Democrats may complain, but not me. His Chief of Staff was a good choice, but each subsequent one has become less and less qualified for the positions.  Can he not find someone qualified AND agrees with him?

Yeah he puts Blanche at deputy AG under Gaetz? Just stupid 

mrussel1

Gern Blansten said:

mrussel1 said:

teskeinc said:

mrussel1 said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

teskeinc said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Philly NJ said:

Matt Gaetz - Attorney General. Very important to rid the DOJ of corruption. Happy days are here again.

Diddnt he sex traffic underage girls

Is there anything about Trump and his ways that you don’t like? Like sex trafficking underage age girls, just as an example. 

Or if everything great by default?

Charges were dropped. He’s still guilty in the court of Democrats tho. 

If you had to bet your life. Would you bet it on him having done what he was accused of or not?

I’m not defending him, guy is pretty sketchy and I doubt he gets confirmed for AG. Jose was just posting misinformation. DOJ dropped charges. He was under an ethics investigation by the House. Who knows what the report would have said. I imagine it probably wasn’t great for him.

Ok great, I'm glad you're not defending him.  

What about him makes him qualified to be the top cop, the AG of the country?  Do you think this was Trump exercising good judgment?

Probably not a good pick. But I honestly don’t know enough about him. Looks like Trump is putting people loyal to him and who are major disruptors to the DC norm in these positions. Totally his right based on outcome of election. If they don’t do their job they will get fired, something Biden wouldn’t do.
We saw that last time.

Democrats are going to complain about every nomination, it’s what they do. Trump has a mandate, the people voted for Pres, House and Senate. Majority are upset how the government was run, it’s now changing. Could be better, could be worse. We will soon find out. At least people are willing to try to make things better. Instead of the status quo DC nonsense.

"Mandates" are how you get crushed in the mid-terms, so we'll see how smart that is.  Democrats may complain, but not me. His Chief of Staff was a good choice, but each subsequent one has become less and less qualified for the positions.  Can he not find someone qualified AND agrees with him?

Yeah he puts Blanche at deputy AG under Gaetz? Just stupid 

Blanche would be fine as WH counsel.  They exist specifically to represent the WH in legal matters.  The Deputy AG is different.  

The Juggler

Literally living through this right now. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoZ1-xPbNHg&t=29s